Which of the following statements about India's largest Charkha is/are true? 1. It was inaugurated in Noida. 2. It is made of used plastic waste. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
- (a)Only 1
- (b)Only 2
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, both 1 and 2. India's largest charkha was unveiled at Sector 94 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on 1 October 2019 — the eve of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary — by Union Minister Smriti Irani, along with the local MP, MLA and the Noida Authority CEO. So statement 1 is true. It was built out of roughly 1,250 kg of used plastic collected in a waste-collection drive run by the Noida Authority, which is precisely the point of the installation: the spinning wheel of self-reliance rebuilt from the material that now chokes Indian cities. So statement 2 is true as well, and the combination gives option (c).
- (a)Only 1 — The location is right, but rejecting statement 2 is wrong — the plastic-waste construction is not decoration added by the question-setter, it is the defining feature of the installation and the reason it made the news.
- (b)Only 2 — The material is right, but the site is Noida (Gautam Buddh Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh). Candidates drop statement 1 because they associate charkha and khadi imagery with Ahmedabad, Wardha or Delhi rather than a NCR industrial city.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both statements are factually correct, so a blanket rejection cannot be right. This option only tempts candidates who never encountered the October 2019 news item and are guessing defensively.
The charkha (spinning wheel) is the emblem of Gandhi's swadeshi and self-reliance programme and remains the symbol of the khadi movement. Around Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary in 2019, governments and civic bodies across India put up commemorative installations; the Noida one combined that commemoration with the Swachh Bharat theme of plastic-waste management by fabricating the wheel entirely out of collected waste plastic. It measured about 14 x 20 x 8 feet, weighed roughly 1,650 kg in total, and was recognised by the India Book of Records as the country's largest charkha made of used plastic waste.
Two of the three things needed here — the place and the material — were in every newspaper on 2 October 2019, so this is straight current-affairs recall with a local (UP) hook, which is exactly what UPPSC likes. The trap is the record-keeping body: the recognition came from the India Book of Records, not the Guinness World Records, so any future statement pairing this charkha with Guinness should be rejected. The second trap is geographical: the installation is in Noida, in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, not in Delhi, even though it sits inside the NCR.
- India's largest charkha was unveiled at Sector 94, Noida (Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh) on 1 October 2019, on the eve of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
- It was made from about 1,250 kg of used plastic; total weight about 1,650 kg, dimensions roughly 14 x 20 x 8 feet.
- The recognition was by the India Book of Records — not the Guinness World Records.
- It was unveiled by Union Minister Smriti Irani, alongside a Noida Authority plastic-waste collection drive.
- Attributing the record to the Guinness World Records instead of the India Book of Records.
- Placing the installation in Delhi because it is in the NCR — it is in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
- Reading 'made of used plastic waste' as an implausible detail and rejecting it; in this case the improbable-sounding statement is the true one.
UPPSC turns state-linked news items into two-statement 'which is/are true' questions, usually pairing a place with a distinguishing physical detail, so note both the where and the what-of when you read a UP news story.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
India's largest charkha, unveiled in October 2019, was fabricated mainly from
- (a)Teak wood
- (b)Used plastic waste
- (c)Stainless steel
- (d)Bamboo
Answer(b) Used plastic waste — about 1,250 kg of collected waste plastic went into the Noida installation.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The unveiling of India's largest charkha at Noida on 1 October 2019 was linked to which occasion?
- (a)The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
- (b)The 75th anniversary of Independence
- (c)World Environment Day
- (d)National Handloom Day
Answer(a) The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi — it was unveiled on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti 2019, the 150th anniversary year.